Bombing rocks mosque in Iraq; 18 dead

At least 18 Sunni worshipers were killed and 29 others were injured in Iraq on Friday when two bombs ripped through a mosque, police said.

The incident occurred in Samarra, a largely Sunni city more than 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Iraq has seen a sharp increase in friction between its Shiite and Sunni populations since April, when security forces raided a site used by Sunni protesters to demonstrate against the Shiite-led government.

Sunnis have felt politically marginalized under Shiite President Nuri al-Maliki, whose government fears it is being targeted by Sunni Islamists involved in fighting in neighboring Syria.